


Highs and Lows

by loki_of_jotunheim



Series: Spy-tify 2020 [1]
Category: Alex Rider - Anthony Horowitz
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dark!Alex (for now), Gen, Spy-tify 2020, Spy-tify 2020 Part 1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:20:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27018706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loki_of_jotunheim/pseuds/loki_of_jotunheim
Summary: Alex's life goes from great to collapsed in the matter of weeks.(Written for "the vibes of When it Lands and Wanted Man" :). part 1 of 2)
Series: Spy-tify 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1971913
Comments: 3
Kudos: 22





	Highs and Lows

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mobilisinmobili](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mobilisinmobili/gifts), [Valaks](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valaks/gifts), [TheInverseUniverse](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheInverseUniverse/gifts).



> For Spy-tify 2020! Part 1 of 2 - I have a plot planned out. My songs were When it Lands - Rainbow Kitten Surprise (from Mobi), "Wanted Man” by Royal Deluxe (from Valak) and "Starting Over" by Chris Stapleton (from Hellacious). This one fulfills songs 1 and 2. Wanted Man is going to overlap for both of them.
> 
> (late edit to add that the first line is absolutely modeled after Devil and the original series first line. I really love that style and I completely forgot to mention that I'd drawn from that.)

It was the Friday of spring break, and Alex woke up in his bed for the fifth time that week. 

Like every other day, the moment of surprise and relief sprung on him as he blinked, staring at the ceiling for a second before sliding out of bed. He changed into jeans and a t-shirt, padding quietly downstairs to see Jack sipping coffee at the counter. 

It wasn’t something he’d been able to experience for a week straight for a very long time, and Alex savored every moment. Jack looked up and smiled at Alex as he poured some coffee for himself and joined Jack at the counter. They sat in quiet comfort together as Jack finished her drink. 

“So, any plans for today?” Jack asked, setting her mug down with a soft clink. 

“No.” Alex smiled. “I’m caught up on my work for school and Tom doesn’t get back until tomorrow. Do you?” 

“No plans here either,” Jack answered. 

“How about we go to London? Make a trip out of it?” Alex suggested. “It’s been ages since we’ve had a chance.” 

“That’s a great idea. We should get you some new clothes, you’re starting to grow out of those.” Jack agreed. “Get something to eat before we go. I’ll get my stuff.” 

“Alright.” Alex ate and ran back upstairs for his shoes right after. He came down and met Jack at the bottom of the stairs. 

“Ready?” She asked. 

“Ready.” Alex confirmed. 

“To London!” Jack proclaimed. 

“I always forget how tall that is.” Jack squinted up at the London Eye. “How tall  _ is  _ it?” 

“The tallest point is...135 meters.” Alex read off the phone. “Wow.” 

“Wow indeed.” Jack shuddered. “Let’s not do that.” 

Alex agreed. He’d had enough of heights for a lifetime.

The next stop was clothes shopping. Jack held up clothes for Alex to approve or deny and a small pile slowly accumulated. Once Jack was satisfied with the number of clothes Alex was carrying around, she ushered him back to the changing rooms. 

Alex tried on some of the shirts, putting the ones that clearly didn’t fit in a pile to the right. About half remained and he tried each on again, adding a few more that just looked ridiculously bad on him to the pile. He was left with about 6 shirts and so he moved to the pants. The jeans were easy to sort out, and the shorts were also sorted fairly quickly. 

“I’m finished,” Alex announced, setting the pile of (folded, he wasn’t rude) clothes on the desk for the attendant to put back. Jack waved a shirt at him with a (shit eating) grin. 

“Jacccckkkk.” Alex complained. “I can’t  _ believe  _ you. That is the worst shirt I’ve ever seen.” 

“It is, huh?” Jack was barely holding back laughter. “Try it on and see if you still think so.” 

“Fineeee.” Alex exchanged the shirt for his smaller pile and headed back in. Staring at himself in the mirror, he had to admit the shirt was hilarious. 

“So?” Jack said. “Is it still the worst shirt ever?” 

“I’ve been persuaded,” Alex said, faux-seriously. “It won me over.” 

“Yes.” Jack cheered. “Okay, is that everything you want from here?” 

“I think so.” Alex answered. “How much is this?” 

“Not more than I can afford.” Jack said firmly. “I got a short gig a few weeks ago, I’ve got some extra money saved up. And next weekend I’m having a girls day with a few of my friends and they’re refusing to let me pay for it.” 

“Really?” Alex smiled. He was glad Jack was spending time with friends again. “Have fun, then.” 

“I will.” Jack smiled. She handed over her card and finished inputting her information, and she did a ridiculously good job of hiding the price from Alex. “Don’t worry about it, it was actually less than I thought it would be.” Jack said firmly, catching Alex flicking his eyes to the obscured receipt. He smiled sheepishly. 

The ride back to Chelsa was short and Alex felt the day's activities catch up to him. He was tired, but it was a good kind of tired. He and Jack ate dinner and Alex headed to bed shortly after. 

The rest of the weekend was about the same as the week had been. Alex relaxed around the house, hung out with Tom on Saturday and then packed his school bag on Sunday night. 

Monday morning rolled around with Jack having prepared breakfast for him when he’d made it down. Alex ate it at the counter and still had some time before he had to leave. 

“It’s almost like your first day of school again.” Jack joked. “Do you have everything?”

“I do.” Alex answered, lifting his bag. “I’ll see you after?” 

“I’ll be here.” Jack confirmed. “Have a good day!” 

“Thanks Jack!” Alex swung on his bike and headed down the street. 

“So are you going to be able to have an entire week at school?” Tom joked as they headed into their first class of the day. The halls were still relatively crowded and Alex welcomed being lost in the crowd. 

"Should be." Alex smiled. The bell rant, interrupting their conversation as they hurried to not be late. 

Alex startled out of his half-sleep as the phone rang. He’d been watching a show on the tv and started to doze. School had been exhausting but he’d still prefer it over anything from MI6. 

“Hello?” Alex said into the phone. 

“Alex? This is - “ Mrs. Jones said. 

Alex hung up the phone. 

It rang again a moment later. 

“If you want me to do anything, you can forget it.” Alex said shortly. “Is there anything else you want?” 

Mrs. Jones didn’t respond for a moment. “It would just be something brief.” She said finally. 

“No.” Alex hung up again. For good measure, he unplugged the phone. Jack would call his cell if anything happened. 

He’d told MI6 to leave him alone after the whole “almost got eaten by crocodiles” experience. He wasn’t keen to repeat any of it. And the last time he’d been promised it would be brief or simple, he’d had to shoot at the prime minister, almost got dissected, got hit by a train, almost been at the center of a nuclear explosion, and almost eaten by crocodiles. Amongst other things. 

He was going to go to school, and get his A-Levels, and that was that. MI6 could shove it. 

There was a knock on the door the next morning, and Alex was sorely tempted to close the door right back in Mrs. Jones’s face. He pushed down the impulse and let her in, preparing the rest of his breakfast with more force than strictly necessary. 

“I’m not doing anything for you.” He said with his back turned to her. “Whenever you’ve said it’s supposed to be brief, or simple, or whatever, it’s always been the opposite. If that’s why you’re here you can just leave.” 

“You wouldn’t have to miss school or even do anything much different than usual.” Mrs. Jones placed a file on the counter. “There’s a new tax consulting firm down the road from your school, actually - Caliber Consulting. They started up about a year ago, and up until recently have seemed rather innocuous. Their latest clients, however, have sent up some flags. Politicians on our watchlists, people connected with terror groups, that sort of thing. More of that type have been visiting in the last six month. All we would want is for you to stop by and get some video so we can try and figure out if there’s something else going on. There’s a lovely park next door, you can pass it off as a school project or something of that sort.” 

“I’m not in any video classes,” Alex argued. “That’s a bit suspicious.” 

“Your friend Tom is, isn’t he?” Mrs. Jones asked. “It doesn’t have to be that exactly, I’m sure you’ll come up with something.” 

“I haven’t agreed to anything yet.” Alex turned back to his breakfast. “And I’m not saying I will.” 

“We could pay Jack for the time.” Mrs. Jones offered. “As your a minor, we can’t pay you, but we could arrange for Jack to receive some payment.” 

_ That _ gave Alex pause. 

“Just taking video?” He asked. 

“Just taking video. We can have someone in the area just in case as well.” Mrs. Jones confirmed. 

“...give me a moment,” Alex said reluctantly and went up to his room. He called Jack. 

“Alex? Is everything alright?” Jack asked, worried. Alex felt horrible for making her worry during her weekend off. 

“Everythings fine, yeah. Uh...Mrs. Jones is here.” Alex winced. 

“I’m coming home,” Jack said instantly, anger clear in her tone. “Didn’t we tell them - "

“Yeah, Jack, we did.” Alex said quickly. “Don’t come home though - I’m not leaving. But…” 

“But…” Jack said warily. 

“She offered to pay you if I take some video after school of some consulting firm near my school,” Alex admitted. 

“Alex - “ Jack paused. “The concern is greatly appreciated, but I would feel absolutely horrible about that.”

“She said they’d have someone in the area too,” Alex added. “Just in case.” 

“If you really want to, I can’t stop you,” Jack said resignedly. “But Alex, you don’t need to worry about the money. That’s my job, not yours.” 

“I know,” Alex said. “And I don’t want to, exactly. I just want to be left alone and at least I wouldn’t have to go anywhere. She won’t stop bothering me or worse, if they’re desperate enough...” 

Jack sighed. “And we both know how well trying to not give in went in the first time.” 

“Yeah.” Alex agreed. “Have fun the rest of the night. I’ll see you when you get home.” 

“See you when I get home.” Jack agreed, and Alex hung up. 

He headed back in the kitchen and slid the file towards him, flicking through it quickly. It seemed like it was just going to be maybe an hour or two after school each day. 

Of course, it was just as likely to blow up in his face. 

“How much would Jack get?” He asked first. 

“Around three thousand pounds total.” Mrs. Jones answered. “It would be for about two weeks we’d need you to take the footage.” 

“Three thousand pounds,” Alex repeated, a little stunned. 

“Yes.” Mrs. Jones looked faintly amused. “Will you do it?” 

“...yes.” Alex agreed heavily. “I’ll do it. 

“Good.” Mrs. Jones stood. “I’ll have Smithers bring the camera and tripod by tomorrow morning.” 

“Alright.” Alex agreed. Mrs. Jones let herself out, leaving Alex standing alone in the kitchen. 

Dammit. 

“So all they want you to do is go take some video with this… fancy camera?” Tom squinted doubtfully at the camera sitting on the table in front of them. “I’ve never seen a camera like this - it almost looks normal but there’s  _ this _ and  _ this _ and those are just weird, mate.” 

“I’m not surprised.” Alex sighed. “You don’t have to go with me or anything I just wanted to ask if maybe - “

“Are you kidding? Do you even know how to use any of this?” Tom looked at Alex knowingly. “I’m the future film-maker here. I’m going with you.”

“It could be dangerous.” Alex reminded him. 

“I know.” Tom said. “I’m still going with you.” 

“Alright, now...turn that way. Perfect! Hold there…” Tom clicked the button and Alex kept the pose. “Beautiful. You should keep at least some of these, they’re really good.” 

“Maybe.” Alex smiled. So far it really hadn’t been that bad - taking the pictures and video was actually pretty discreet when your friend basically did a modeling shoot. 

It was going to be pulling this off for the entire two weeks that was the issue. Tom was coming up with a basic script that could work. For now, they were going with a made up modeling assignment. 

Alex had spotted the MI6 agent keeping an eye on them at the edge of the park. He disappeared and reappeared periodically but generally was easy to ignore. It did make Alex feel slightly better.

“Alright, I think we’ve gotten enough for today, don’t you?” Tom grinned. He was having fun with the “assignments” (and getting to use a ridiculously nice camera). Alex was glad on his behalf there - it was on MI6’s dime anyways. 

“Yeah, you want to pack up and head home?” Alex grabbed their bags and handed Tom’s off to him. 

“Yeah, I wanna see if I can edit the shadows on one of them. They're just  _ slightly _ off…”

There were 2 days left in the 2 week period of the pictures-and-video assignment when Tom had to skip the afternoon trip. 

“My parents are fighting and my brother wants me to come to hang out with him for the rest of the week.” Tom explained apologetically over lunch. “Are you going to be okay alone? 

“Yeah.” Alex nodded. “I understand how to operate it now and I can just take some landscape shots or something. You’ll probably get a good opportunity to practice Photoshop when you get back.” 

“I think you’re better at this than you think, man.” Tom grinned. “Just don’t break it.” 

“Oh, that’s nice,” Alex said, mock-hurt. “I’m somehow better at this than I think and then you warn me not to break it. Nice.” 

There was something off about the place. Alex couldn’t quite place it but it seemed too familiar to just ignore, even though he tried. It was his last day doing this. It wasn’t his business anymore. He should really just ignore it. 

The niggling feeling bothered him all the way to MI6 where he handed over the camera and the memory stick to Mrs. Jones quietly. She seemed to notice something was off. 

“Is everything alright, Alex?” She asked. 

“Something seems off.” He finally said. “I don’t know what it is. It just...feels familiar.” 

“Familiar how?” Mrs. Jones said, attention sharpening. 

“I don’t know exactly,” Alex said, frustratedly. “I can’t pin it down. It just does.” 

“Well, I’ll keep an eye on the place.” Mrs. Jones tried to reassure him. “Maybe it’s because it was almost normal?” 

“Maybe.” Alex wasn’t convinced but he let it drop for now. “Is Jack getting paid?” 

“The funds should be in her account tonight.” Mrs. Jones confirmed. “Have a good afternoon, Alex.” 

Alex nodded and left, mind still half churning on the information just out of reach.

Despite the lack of a camera, Alex went back to the building next week. The agent was gone, and Alex ignored the feeling of nakedness it evoked as he casually approached the street the building sat on. He pulled out his phone like he was checking directions and ambled in the vague direction of the consulting firm. 

He glanced down at his phone again as if he’d gotten a text and picked a spot on a neighboring building to lean on. He “scrolled” on his phone, but wasn’t really paying attention to the contents. 

Rather, the reflection in the glass bus stop across the road had caught his attention. He watched the two men in the front of the agency through it, occasionally glancing back down more obviously at his phone to keep up appearances. 

The two men started to what appeared to be arguing and Alex watched their movements carefully. One drew a gun and fired in the span of a split second, but there was no sound. 

Alex’s breath caught as he realized what seemed so familiar. 

That was _almost_ how Scorpia taught it’s students to shoot. 

He stayed as long as he dared and then glanced at his phone, let out a small groan, and trudged back the way he came. He didn’t relax until he was back home and was sure he hadn’t been followed. 

“They’re assassins,” Alex told Jack darkly as he dialed the number for MI6. 

“Assassins.” Jack paled. “SCORPIA?” 

“I don’t think so - at least not directly. It was very similar to the way they shoot but not exactly the same.” Alex didn’t give any thought to the way she’d phrased it - it was true. “Hello? I need to speak to Mrs. Jones. No, I  _ know _ she’s here - tell her Alex Rider is calling.” Alex waited as the person on the other line  _ finally  _ put him through. “They’re assassins.” He paused. “What? No, I’m sure. One of them shot someone today and - it was the way assassins shoot.” Alex avoided looking at Jack when he said that. “What? No! I’m not just seeing things. I know what I saw.  _ Thank you _ . I’d rather not get shot again, thanks.” Alex hung up the phone. “She didn’t believe me.” He exclaimed. 

“The last time they didn’t believe you, Damien Cray almost caused nuclear war.” Jack pointed out. 

“She’s going to check it out anyway though.” Alex sighed. “I just hope they didn’t recognize me.” 

Jack didn’t answer but pulled Alex into a reassuring hug. 

Alex closed the door behind him with a sigh. Jack was out of town again for the weekend with some friends and he had the house to himself for a while. MI6 hadn’t contacted him again since the last call and he was fairly sure they didn’t believe him. It irritated him but there wasn’t much he could do. 

He walked into the kitchen and froze when he saw the person startle at his entrance and swing the gun to face him. He rolled back into the hallway just before the bullet hit the doorway with a solid  _ thwack _ . 

He scrambled back to the foyer, his main thought of getting the man outside his house. He knew sometimes MI6 had agents stationed around and if he could just get one of their attentions - 

Alex glanced behind him as he sprinted down the street and saw the other man giving chase. Good. Alex increased his pace and started looking for the agent. 

_ There _ . Alex met his eye and held it and then started weaving. The agent caught on, saw the man behind him and started barrelling towards the two in the car. 

Alex was suddenly grateful this  _ wasn’t _ SCORPIA. He’d be dead already if it was. 

The assassin couldn’t doge the car and time and went flying with a startled yell. Alex didn’t stick around. He needed to check the house. 

They hadn’t believed him, again. No, not that he’d been attacked - they didn’t believe that these were almost SCORPIA level assassins. They’d dismissed him with an attempt at reassuring him it was a one time thing and Alex’s blood was boiling as he headed home. 

As he approached his house, he slowed to a stop almost subconsciously as he registered the police cars in front.

No - no - no - not again - 

“What’s going on?” He gasped, pushing past the gawkers. “What’s - where’s Jack?” 

“Alex Rider?” One of the police officers approached, sympathy in her eyes. 

“No.” Alex whispered. “No - you’re lying. She’s not - “ 

“I’m so sorry, son.” She said. “She was found in the kitchen - gunshot to the chest. It was quick.” 

Alex pushed them all aside and ran inside. He froze on the kitchen threshold -  _ Jack _ \- 

Alex watched Blunt through the binoculars he’d acquired a few hours ago. The roof across from the building  _ still _ hadn’t been secured from the last assassination attempt and Alex was glad. It made it easier for him to watch Blunt this way. 

It turned out that Jack had left her friends a few hours early because she’d received a phone call - supposedly from Alex’s school - about something that needed to be taken care of. She’d arrived home, stopped in the kitchen for a brief drink and turned to see the person approaching before being shot. 

MI6 had supposedly been watching the house but somehow they’d missed an assassin breaking in. Alex had his suspicions. 

Blunt started preparing to leave. Alex got up and headed to street level. 

Alex approached Blunt as he was passing an alleyway. Apparently, the man still walked to his car. He shoved the startled man into the alley and blocked him from exiting. 

“You’re responsible for Jack’s death.” He said darkly. “Care to explain?” 

“I’ll admit we did overlook some security concerns,” Blunt said calmly. “But -" 

“Don’t  _ but _ me.” Alex hissed. “If you or Jones or MI6 ever contact me again I will make sure you regret it. Don’t come after me.” Alex took a step towards the man who visibly flinched. Good. “Bye, Blunt.” 

Alex stepped backwards and out of the alleyway and vanished. 

He had somewhere to be. 

“I was right.” The director of MI5 - Blake - flipped through some more pages of the report before tossing it on the desk with a noise of disgust. “You broke him, and anything he does is on your shoulders - maybe not legally - but morally. I’m sure that doesn’t matter to you.”

“He’s a rogue element now.” Blunt didn’t rise to the accusation. 

“You’re right about that much.” Blake said bitterly. “He’s shaping up to be a legitimate threat on his own if he ever stops focusing on MI6. He’s almost only 15.” 

“I’m having it taken care of.” Blunt answered calmly. 

“You’re going to have him killed.” Blake stated. Blunt didn’t disagree. “That might be the kindest thing for him at this point - but it won’t be to your credit. Remember, Alan Blunt - if he ever gets close enough to you to get his revenge - it will be entirely your own fault.” 

It had been a few months since Jack’s - it had been a while. Alex had slowly but surely been making headway into freelancing. It wasn’t always assassination. Sometimes it was intrusion, theft, sabotage, or other various activities.

This job, however, was. And it was going to result in the largest body count of all of his jobs so far. 

Alex watched the man walk across the street through the scope of a rifle. The target was MI6 and he was headed to a meet with some local arms dealers who used child labor. MI6 was arranging a partnership and Alex intended to make sure it failed. 

He followed the target all the way to the meeting place. The members of the arms dealing group showed up, and Alex waited until everyone was nice and relaxed before he started firing. They were all dead before they could react in any way but shock and Alex cleaned the traces of his presence before disappearing again. 

One step closer to Blunt. 


End file.
